


Love Calculator

by Brieoftarth



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, mostly fluff tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:47:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23371162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brieoftarth/pseuds/Brieoftarth
Summary: Prompt: Jaime and Brienne just got in a relationship together before the lockdown and they didn't get lockdown together. So Jaime is being clingy and anxious.
Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Comments: 18
Kudos: 125





	Love Calculator

**Author's Note:**

> This is unbeta'd so more than likely it's shite - please excuse any spelling/grammar mistakes. I wrote this at 4am SO it's expected lmao. Also yes I do hate myself for writing a quarantine fic and what about it?

Jaime met Brienne Tarth on the train to work one awful Monday morning. It was raining, it was cold and windy, and to make matters worse there were no free seats. Standing on a busy carriage for 45 minutes just made him want to cry. He really had to change leg day from a Sunday to a Friday, he decided as he held onto the railing. 

10 minutes in and he was really tempted to get off at the next stop and just get a cab, but traffic in King’s Landing wasn’t great either and he didn’t fancy sitting in the back of a strange car with a driver who wouldn’t shut up. The carriage seemed to just be getting hotter and hotter, and he was peeking through the crowd to see if there were any free seats. And  _ result,  _ there was a seat in the middle so he climbed through the crowd. As soon as his backside touched the seat, Jaime looked up and spotted an older lady glance around the carriage and groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Ma’am, ma’am, over here.” He gestured to the older woman who hurried over gratefully, patting his arm as she took the seat. And back he went to where he was standing before, but fuck it was even warmer and there were even more people. 

He felt a tap to his shoulder. “Hey, that was kind of you. Everyone else was avoiding contact.” 

Who  _ was _ this person? Did they not understand train etiquette in King’s Landing? There was an unwritten rule that you don’t  _ talk,  _ or even worse,  _ do not make eye contact.  _ **_With anyone!_ **

He turned around to explain the rules, but he was met with the most  _ gorgeous  _ eyes and the tallest woman and he was speechless. Her nose was crooked, and her lips were definitely out of proportion for her face, but there was just  _ something  _ that drew him to her. He opened his mouth and closed it, fully aware of how idiotic he looked. 

“Oh, it’s-- Fuck, your  _ eyes. _ ” 

The woman blushed, her forehead creasing as she looked down at the floor. 

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. They’re just so  _ blue.  _ I’m aware that I sound like an idiot. I’m going to turn back now.” 

The woman glanced back up to his eyes, a smile playing at her lips as she shook her head. “I don’t hear that often. Thank you.” 

“Jaime Lannister.” He held out his hand and she took it.

“Brienne Tarth.” 

“Not from around here?” 

“How did you know?” 

“You spoke on the train. No one from King’s Landing speaks on the train. You’ll learn in time, Blue.” He winked, and drew a laugh from her and it was  _ music  _ to his ears.

That night he couldn’t stop thinking of her as he laid in bed. She was tall, and okay not the prettiest but who the fuck cared about that? She laughed with him, they even got off at the same stop and realised that they only worked a couple of minutes from each other. She had taken his number and promised she’d call him or text him if she ever needed to be shown around the city. 

_ But what if she doesn’t text?  _ Jaime thought to himself, groaning as he tossed and turned. 

He had just broken up with his previous girlfriend, and it wasn’t the healthiest of relationships. She made him feel small, convinced him that he needed therapy because he was “unhinged”, she said. It only took two therapy sessions for the therapist to break it to Jaime that he wasn’t the issue,  _ she  _ was the root of all of his anxieties and confidence issues. 

And so he left, and he vowed that he would spend the next year looking after just  _ him.  _ Of course, he met the lovely woman on the train seven months after the breakup and that vow would be scrapped if he got the chance. 

It took two days for Brienne to finally text him, and Jaime felt  _ butterflies. _

**Brienne:** Hi! I’m sorry it took so long to send you a message. I’m still moving into my apartment and trying to make it cosy, but hiking furniture up four flights of stairs is hard work, I’ll tell you. 

**Jaime:** Don’t worry about it! I’ve had client after client. How have you been? Have you managed to see much of the city?

**Brienne:** I’ve been well, thank you! And no, I’m just trying to make my apartment more liveable before I venture outside. I was hoping to take up your offer of showing me around? I hear there are plenty of museums and parks around. Tomorrow? On our lunch break?

**Jaime:** It’s a date! 

**Brienne:** ..... 

_ Oh God, she’s going to think I meant literally, fuck fuck fuck, _ he thought. 

**Brienne:** .... is it?

**Jaime:** ..... Do you want it to be? 

_ You sound like a sixteen year old kid, Jaime. _

**Brienne:** I wouldn’t mind that.

**Brienne:** :) 

_ SMILEY FACE EMOJI! YES!  _

**Jaime:** Then it’s a date. :) 

They only had an hour to share the next day, so they didn’t plan on making any visits to the museums. Jaime met her outside his office and he took her to the best ice cream place (in his opinion), and walked around the park. It didn’t take long for Jaime to realise she was  _ funny  _ as well as beautiful. She told him about her father, how he was her best friend and it was strange to only speak to him on the phone rather than face to face, how she studied interior design at college but it was extremely hard to build up a portfolio when you’re fresh out of college because no one wants to hire someone with barely any experience no matter how talented they are, how she loved art and didn’t drink often but if she did, she was partial to a glass of whisky but only  _ one  _ or maybe even two depending on how shitty her day had been and then suddenly she stopped talking and turned to him. 

“I’m sorry. I haven’t stopped talking since we got here,” she muttered, and Jaime shook his head as he swallowed the mouthful of ice cream that he had shoved into his mouth. 

“I like hearing you talk. You seem extremely passionate about the things you like, so why  _ not  _ talk about them? Plus, your voice is extremely soothing. You talk away, I’m happy listening.” 

She just smiled, poking her spoon in her melting ice cream. “My father’s ex wife said it’s not polite to talk only about yourself.” 

“No wonder she’s an ex wife, then.” 

Brienne snorted, and Jaime grinned because  _ he made her laugh _ . 

They continued to meet up at lunch, five days a week for three weeks straight. After the second week, Jaime took her to his favourite museum and almost dragged her to his favourite exhibit that showed the fancy swords and when she gasped and squealed “Widow's Wail!” loudly in front of at least 40 onlookers, he realised he would marry that woman right there and then if he could. They held hands as they looked around the rest of the museum, Brienne pointing out details that Jaime had never picked up on and it was  _ nice.  _

At the start of the fourth week, Jaime asked her to come over to his apartment at the weekend and Brienne had shied away. They hadn’t even kissed yet, everything was fairly PG and the most intimacy they had was holding hands. 

“Are you okay?” He finally asked when she didn’t reply to his question. “I just thought it would be nice. We could cook, and watch a-” 

“I’m a virgin.” Brienne blurted, her cheeks turning hot pink as she pulled her hand away from him. “And I haven’t kissed anyone.” 

Jaime stayed silent for a few seconds, but he could practically  _ hear  _ her anxieties. 

“Hey,” he nudged her with his elbow. “That’s fine. No pressure. I’d just like to have good food and a movie with you. I’m growing tired of the ice cream,” he gestured down to the tub he was holding. 

Brienne smiled down at her own tub, and nudged him back. “Thanks.” 

Later that night, Jaime sent her a text to say goodnight, as he always did, and Brienne replied immediately. 

**Brienne:** Goodnight, Jaime. Sweet dreams. P.S. I wouldn’t mind it if you did kiss me on Friday.

**Jaime:** :) Thank god. Goodnight, Blue.

Their date went well.  _ Extremely  _ well. He planned on kissing her at the end of the evening, a soft goodbye and goodnight kiss, but they had just about made it through dinner before his lips were on hers. And then they moved from the dining table to the living room to watch a movie, which they  _ barely  _ even looked at because they couldn’t tear their lips away from each other for more than a minute. 

He didn’t rush her, and he was more than happy to kiss her all night. Unfortunately, she had to go home and they were so caught up in each other's kisses that they didn’t realise it was 2am. 

But it was fine, because she was back the next evening. And she lay on his sofa, with her head in his lap as they watched The Wizard of Oz because Jaime told her how much he loved the film and she had the audacity to turn around and tell him she had never seen it. 

“Brienne?” 

“Mhm?” 

“You better not fall asleep. You haven’t even seen Dorothy get to the Emerald City!” 

“I’m just resting my eyes.” 

“Wench, you can’t just  _ rest your eyes  _ during this film. It’s a work of art.” 

He made her laugh again, and he was delighted when she opened her eyes and reached for his hand, but she pulled it to her hair to encourage him to play with it. He stroked his fingers through her blonde hair, smiling down at her as she pulled the blanket up to her chin. 

“Brienne?” 

“Jaime, you  _ told  _ me to watch this and you’re being a distr-” 

“Would you like to be my girlfriend?” 

He kept his eyes on the TV, because gods if she rejected him he  _ would  _ deal with it but he couldn’t look her in the eye as she did it. 

“I’d like that.” She reached back to squeeze his hand, before she snuggled back into his lap and kept her eyes on the TV, but Jaime glanced down and she had the  _ biggest  _ smile on her face. 

He kissed her goodbye as he walked her down to her cab home. When he ran back upstairs to her apartment, he already had a text from her. 

**Brienne:** Jaime, have you seen the news? I had no idea that the virus was getting so serious! 

**Brienne:** Catelyn has just texted me. I’ve to work from home for the next 3 weeks. The city is on a total lockdown as of tomorrow.

Jaime immediately turned on the news, watching the replayed speech that the PM had given earlier that night, but he was just so engrossed in his evening with Brienne that they had ignored their phones in favour of each other. He also had a text from his father, telling him that he too would be working from home and the office would be shut until further notice. 

Gods, if his  _ father  _ was closing the office, then it must be serious.   
  
**Jaime:** Wait, I just watched it on the news. They said not to visit anyone from other households.....?! 

**Jaime:** Brienne, tell the cab driver to turn around and come back

**Brienne:** Jaime, I’d love to but I can’t. My laptop is at home :( 

**Brienne:** It’ll be fine, we can FaceTime and we can text 

**Jaime:** But.... :( 

**Jaime:** Gods, I know you’re right, but how am I supposed to not see you for THREE WEEKS? I miss my girlfriend already

**Brienne:** And I miss my boyfriend :( 

Jaime adored Brienne, he really did. But gods, he wished his girlfriend didn’t have such a  _ good  _ work ethic. From 9-1, he wouldn’t hear from her because she would be working away on her laptop with her phone turned off, and then they’d speak on the phone while they had lunch together from 1 till 1.30, and then she’d be gone from 1.30 until 5. 

Most of Jaime’s day consisted of throwing a ball up in the air as he laid on his back. Then he’d have some cookies and milk. After that he’d have some personal  _ Jaime  _ time. And then he’d finally open his laptop to start correcting a report that one of the interns had sent over to him. Then he’d speak to Brienne. And then he wouldn’t stop thinking of Brienne for the rest of the afternoon until he got to speak to her again. Gods, she wasn’t even there or even  _ talking  _ to him and she was still proving to be a distraction, but he didn’t care. She was the best distraction. 

By day twelve, Jaime had looked back at their texts and  _ fuck  _ he felt like an idiot. He would text her random thoughts throughout the day, but wouldn’t receive a reply until late afternoon. Was he pestering her? Was he being annoying? Was he being  _ too  _ much?

He laid on the floor, throwing the ball up to the ceiling repeatedly, trying to put his mind at ease. Okay, so he wouldn’t receive a reply until later, and she  _ would  _ reply to every text he had sent. Then they would talk on FaceTime until she fell asleep, and repeat. 

On the 17th day of isolation, they spoke about high school and their high school crushes. He listened to her stories about Renly Baratheon, and grinned as she giggled her way through the stories. 

“Oh, my god. I don’t know how I didn’t realise he was gay. I really don’t. Every night I’d go home and... Oh,  _ this  _ is embarrassing,” she tried to speak through laughter, and it was so infectious. “I’d go home and I’d go on my father’s computer. Do you remember those love calculator websites? I’d go on those, and type in our names and I’d be  _ devastated _ because the results were just 75%. I was a mess!” Jaime watched her wipe tears from the corners of her eyes as she stopped laughing, and then he’d share one of his embarrassing stories. 

On day 18 of not seeing Brienne, he thought back to their conversation the night before. He  _ did  _ remember them. While he was on his laptop, he typed ‘Love Calculator’ into the search engine and clicked on the first link. 

“Jaime & Brienne = 65%!” 

Oh gods, she had been devastated when she was  _ 75%  _ with Renly! Fuck. 

He went back a page and clicked on the second link. 

“Jaime & Brienne = 70%!” 

  
Shit. 

Third link. 

“Jaime & Brienne = 45%!” 

FUCK. 

Fourth link. 

“Jaime & Brienne = 74%!” 

After that, Jaime had to lay down on the sofa and have a long hard think about this. He was  _ sure  _ that she was the one, even if it was early on in their relationship. They got on so well, they laughed at the same jokes, adored history, and  _ loved  _ watching documentaries about the planet. How could they NOT be compatible? 

He didn’t realise that he laid there for  _ two hours  _ contemplating it all, until he received a text from Brienne at 5. 

**Brienne:** You’re awfully quiet today. Everything alright?

**Brienne:** I know isolation is hard. But it’ll be over soon, and then we can resume as normal.

**Brienne:** But really, is everything okay? Call me. x 

Jaime groaned, throwing his head back against the pillow. What if everything was fine  _ now,  _ and then she realised sometime down the line that he wasn’t that great? That she didn’t  _ really  _ like him that much? What if the “I miss you” text he sent every day was too overbearing? What if she was just humouring him until they saw each other again and she dumped him face to face? 

Fuck, fuck, fuck. It was too much to think about. 

He sat there for another hour, staring at the ceiling as he thought about what to do next. He had been so excited to see her, and all he could then think about was what she would say to him when she tried to let him down gently. 

When she called him, he swallowed the lump in his throat and picked up. 

“Hey.” 

“Jaime,” he watched her pout through the screen, and he couldn’t help but smile at how cute she was. “I missed you all day, Jaime. It wasn’t any fun turning my phone on to no texts.” She raised her glass of wine to her lips, and Jaime just gave her a tight smile. “Jaime, what’s wrong?” 

He bit down on his lower lip, running his hand over his face as he looked anywhere but at her. 

“Like I said earlier, isolation is hard when you’re on your own. It’s  _ boring  _ and it can leave a lot of room for anxiety to creep in. Talk to me,” she pressed.

“I tried the love calculator and every single one of them gave us less than 75% so now I’m worried that you’ll think we’re not compatible but I still think we are because I think they’re a heap of shit and they’re not very accurate but you had said that you were devastated when yours with Renly had been 75% and Brienne, ours is  _ less  _ than that.” He blurted out in one large sentence without even taking a breath, and he still couldn’t look at her through the screen.

The silence was palpable and he contemplated just ending the call. 

“Jaime, do you know why you think they’re a heap of shit?” 

“Because I’m bitter that we got less than you and Renly?” 

“ **_No,_ ** it’s because they are a heap of shit.” Her gentle laugh caused him to look up at the screen.

“You really think so?” 

“Of course I do. Is that why you haven’t texted all day? Because you were worried that I would think that we wouldn’t work out because of a  _ Love Calculator? _ ” 

Jaime huffed, making Brienne smile fondly at him. 

“Oh, you’re so cute. Okay,  _ no _ , I don’t believe in Love Calculators. I  _ like _ turning my phone on to see 5 texts from you. Whether it’s anecdotes about your day, a link to your new favourite playlist on Spotify, a selfie of you cooking, I don’t care what kind of content you send because I just love it all. And quite frankly, it makes me feel quite special because it shows me that you’re thinking about me as much as I think about you.” 

Jaime grinned. “You think about me while you’re working?” 

“Non stop. I have to stop myself from turning my phone on because I  _ know  _ that if I start talking to you then I’m going to forget all about the work that I’m doing. And please,  _ please _ , if you have any anxieties about the way I feel about you,  _ please  _ talk to me, alright?” 

Jaime nodded in response, getting up from the sofa to go to his bedroom where he dimmed the light, and rested his head on a pillow. 

“I’ll be with you in just three more days, handsome. And we’ll talk everyday until then. And,” Jaime watched her bite on her lip as she spoke. “And- I think I’d like to stay over. Just in case they extend it. I’ll even bring my laptop over so that if that  _ does _ happen, we can be with each other. How does that sound?” 

“Perfect. It sounds perfect. Alexa,” he called over to the speaker in the corner of the room. “Play Brienne’s Sleeping Playlist, please.” 

Brienne made the playlist for him after their third or fourth time meeting up for lunch, and he listened to it ever since. 

“Goodnight, Brienne. I miss you.” 

“Goodnight, Jaime. I’m right here, but I miss you too. Sweet dreams.” 

Like every night since the isolation started, Jaime and Brienne fell asleep on facetime with each other, both finding comfort in the other’s small snores. 


End file.
